Tuesday, June 26, 2007

One of the last battles for Singapore took place on this hill. It is called Kent Ridge Park, but has another name as well, Pasir Panjang Battle Site. The Malay Regiment fought against the Japanese for two days before they finally surrendered, after most of the men were killed.

Kent Ridge has a wonderful view of the vast harbour in southern Singapore.

A canopy walkway connects the hill of Kent Ridge to another, called Bukit Chandu. This boardwalk is raised to the height of the trees and gives the hikers new perspectives on the jungle below.

Here is the group at Bukit Chandu. It used to be called Opium Hill because the British owned an opium packing plant located at the foot of the hill in 1910. However, it has a more sinister past due to the last stand of the Malay Regiment fought on Kent Ridge and Chandu in 1942. 2nd Lt. Adnan Bin Saidi led 42 men against 13,000 Japanese. When the Japanese finally defeated the Malays, the prisoners were all brutally murdered and left on this hill.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

We are taking a little break from Singapore history to discuss something that I, Danny, have been studying in the Scriptures lately. I have always been fascinated with numbers, so when our pastor began a study of the book of Matthew with a discussion of the genealogy in chapter 1, I became inspired to do a study of mine own on the different genealogies listed in the Bible.

Here is a basic table of data concerning the line of men from Adam to the Great Flood:

Name

Meaning

Age

Year of Birth

Year of Death

Adam

Man

930

0

930

Seth

Appointed

912

130

1042

Enos

Mortal

905

235

1140

Cainan

Sorrow

910

325

1235

Mahalalel

The Blessed God

895

395

1290

Jared

Shall Come down

962

460

1422

Enoch

Teaching

365

622

987

Methuselah

Death Shall bring

969

687

1656

Lamech

Despairing

777

874

1651

Noah

Rest

950

1056

2006

Great Flood

1656

A couple of things that I noticed while looking at this list:

1. Note that Adam died when Lamech was 56. Thus, the story of creation and the fall could have been passed on firsthand or secondhand to most of those that were alive at the time of the flood.

2. Enoch lived only 365 years, then he "walked with God; and he was not." (Genesis 5:24) At that time Seth, his great-great-great grandfather was still alive!

3. Methuselah died the same year that the flood came. Apparently Enoch prophesied the Flood when he named his son. Methuselah also lived longer than any other recorded man, 969 years. This longevity is another example of God's patience and love for each one and his desire to give every man a chance to repent.

4. If you just read down the line of meanings you find an abbreviated tale of the Gospel story.

It is amazing the things that you learn looking at the lists of names in the Bible! I'm looking forward to my deeper look at the later genealogies.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The VBS program finished wonderfully last week. We had 15 kids on Tuesday and the number grew to 20 on Friday. Three of the twenty had never attended church with us before, and six had visited only once for Easter. We had lots of fun playing games, making puppets and capes, and learning about our best superhero, Jesus. Pictured below are the kids performing for their parents Friday night. In the back is Chloe the clown, she helped with many of the lessons throughout the week.

The kids quite obviously enjoyed themselves, and on Sunday two of the visitors joined us for church! Praise God!

On another note, the pool is almost done! Yesterday evening they started filling it up again. We are supposed to be able to use it again starting next Monday!

We were surprised to learn that some of the beaches in Singapore have a dark history. The picture below was taken at Changi Beach on the east coast. The Japanese military executed tens of thousands of Chinese during the occupation, between Feb. 18 and Mar. 4, 1942. This series of mass murders was known as the Sook Ching Operation. The first site of executions was right here on Changi Beach. Many Chinese civilian men and boys were executed because the military believed that they were anti-Japanese.

Here is another killing ground. There is a jetty at the end of Punggol Road. On February 28, 1942, about 300-400 Chinese civilians faced a Japanese firing squad.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Last Wednesday 21 seniors graduated from ICS. These students will be covering the globe by this time next year: two will be in Guatemala, four or five will remain in Singapore, one in Australia, one in Korea, one in China, one in Japan, one in England, and several scattered throughout the US. In addition to these 21 students, we have many other families that will be leaving Singapore and taking their kids elsewhere in the world: one family will be serving God in Lebanon and two others will be working in China. What an awesome reminder of God's ability to impact the world from little Singapore. People from all walks of life come here and God speaks to their hearts. Then, He returns them to their home country or sends them elsewhere in the world to be a light for Him. We consider it a great privilege to be a part of what God is doing. Thank you for your prayers and support. God is using you too!

ConstructionOn another note, construction continues in our backyard. The pool seems to be nearing completion (was supposed to be done at end of May). Work was also begun on the bar-b-que pavilion. You can see an orange crane poking through the trees. That is the cement truck (down on the road) pouring concrete.

The Kranji Commonwealth War Memorial is found near the northern border of Singapore. It honours the memory of soldiers from many countries who gave their lives for freedom. 4,498 graves surround 12 columns. These columns contain 24,000 names of men whose bodies were never recovered. The cemetery was originally a hospital burial ground during the Japanese occupation. After the war, the cemetery was changed to the Kranji War Memorial. Singapore's first two presidents are also buried here. Our group is standing in front of one of the columns.

Here we are walking past the graves on our way back to the car.

This last picture was taken at a Japanese cemetery, also in the northern part of Singapore. We were surprised to find it in the middle of a residential area. Among those buried here are 135 Japanese war criminals. These men had participated in the Singapore Chinese Massacre (more on this next week). Field Marshal Count Terauchi, the Supreme Commander of the Japanese forces in South-east Asia is also buried here.

Today was the first day of our Holiday Kids Camp at church. Fifteen kids attended, from 7-12 years old. Our theme this year: 'Jesus is our Superhero'. The kids had lots of fun with songs, crafts, superman clips, games, and lessons about how "Jesus is able to save completely." Hebrews 7:25

Danny had a lot of fun working with the kids and leading the song time. This was the first of four days. On Friday we will meet from 10-8:30, ending with a program for the parents. While most of the kids attend our church regularly, 5 or 6 of the kids are new to our church program. Please pray that God will be real to these kids and that their parents will be able to come Friday evening to hear God's good news.